Ink Life tour offers big economic impact for Amarillo

The Amarillo Civic Center is a buzz this weekend with all kinds of shows and activities including the Third Annual Ink Life Tour.

The tour is back in town throughout the rest of the weekend, until Sunday night at eleven. The show includes at least 250 tattoo artists, merchandise booths, food, live music and lots of fun. Organizers say the event has grown about 30 percent each year and this weekend, they expect at least 10,000 people from Amarillo and surrounding areas to cycle through the show. That's good news for vendors, and Amarillo's economy.

"Hotel, motel, food, clubs, so the impact the City of Amarillo sees, you'll feel it about two to three days after we leave," said Ink Life Tour Operations Manager George Galindo. "It's a huge economical impact and we don't take any city money, no funding so it's a huge impact for the city."

Local hotels are also feeling the impact. Galindo says his show typically fills up several hotels in every town they visit. Right now, they've filled up 100-plus rooms in Amarillo.

After controversial comments from President Donald Trump over the weekend, multiple teams in the NFL joined together, taking a knee and linking arms during the national anthem to show solidarity to remarks they saw as being divisive.

After controversial comments from President Donald Trump over the weekend, multiple teams in the NFL joined together, taking a knee and linking arms during the national anthem to show solidarity to remarks they saw as being divisive.